Thanks! My Shavemac is a 24 mm knot with a 46 mm loft on a chubby handle. It's a big brush in a relatively small package.
Good morning everyone. My shave today: - Stirling Preshave Soap - Stirling Barbershop - Semogue OC Badger - Phoenix DOC - Polsilver SI (#2) - La Toja After Shave Lotion Today was one of those days ... everything came together for a fantastic shave. The Stirling soap and the Semogue brush produced a lot of nice lather, after spreading that all over my face I took a new approach to shaving: Instead of dedicated WTG/ATG/XTG passes I just shaved 1 pass from ear to chin, the next one from chin to ear. With my strange beard growth pattern that is in fact a mix between X and ATG (even WTG in some small areas). With just these two passes, the right shaving angle and a tiny bit of touchup at my left sideburn area I achieved something between a DFS+ and a BBS- shave ... more than suitable for daily use And for the first time ever the Aftershave was totally quiet, no reaction at all - zero, zip, nothing, nada, rien. So I rate this A+++ in terms of irritation. Oh - and as you can tell from the picture we had quite a bit of snowfall here, about 3 inches since yesterday. Temperature dropped from 55 to 13 since New Years Day.
1/6/16 Phoenix Double OC Gillette Silver Blue (2) Vulfix Super Badger (660) Mitchell's Wool Fat Georgetown G12 Scuttle Pinaud Clubman Original Second shave with my Phoenix DOC loaded with the Gillette Silver Blue. 2 full passes: Pass 1 XTG. Pass 2: ATG. Both with very good reduction. Followed up my second pass with a small amount of touch up where I could feel stubble. A cool water rinse and a small amount of touch up captured the baby again. The Pinaud Clubman stung a bit, then settled down. The MWF left me with enough lather for at least another two passes. Another nice comfortable BBS. I like this combination: MWF, Phoenix DOC, and the GSB. I'm looking forward to trying my first Feather in a few days. I'm hoping it is as nice in this razor as the GSB. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!
I'm already confident that the Ikon B1 standard head will deliver a CCS. I am going to add in the cold water approach favored by many here on TSD. Any advice from you tough guys?
01/06/2016 Razor – Cobra Classic Blade – Feather Pro (6) Brush – Rudy Vey with TGN Finest Lather – Catie’s Bubbles Santal Sensuelle Post - Witch Hazel followed by Captain’s Choice Sandalwood Back to the Cobra Classic for this morning's shave. In an effort to use what I have, I went with Catie's Bubbles Sandalwood. I like the soap very well but it's not one I reach for often. Whipped up a great lather and went with a traditional 3 pass shave. After the touch ups around my chin and lips, I ended up with a near BBS shave with no nicks, cuts or irritation. Graded out for Closeness A- and Irritation A+. Finished up with a splash of mentholated CC Sandalwood AS. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.
January 6, 2016 (Shave 3 of this Focus) Razor: Ontario Cutlery Co. Geneva NY 5/8 muted square tip Strop: Drygulch Leatherworks Chromexcel Horse/ Linen Soap: Sterling Barbershop Brush: 28mm Ubersoft in Aluminum handle Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Alum Bar, Witch Hazel Aftershave: Fine American Blend The focus this month is to see how different finishes feel on the straight razor. I touched up the stone last night on my Translucent Arkansas. I did not strop it after the stone. My normal process is to strop about 5 laps on Chromium Oxide pasted strop, 20 on linen, and 100 on leather. This helped give me an idea on what those steps do. The blade was very keen, but still a little tuggy. I did a three pass shave, and got a few weepers on my neck. Face, chin, and jaw are BBS, but some spots on the neck are rough. Over all DFS, Closeness B+, Irritation C, Keenness B+, Smoothness C. First time using Fine American Blend aftershave. I like it a lot.
I started using cold water a few weeks ago and I haven't looked back. It's a winner imo. I love the feel of the razor it's like it's been on Ice.
The razor definitely feels different in a cold water shave as you all know. The cold metal on your skin is quite a feeling. I think it would be great for the summer but right now the warm water shaves, for me, are better. I've tried some cold water shaves and will again in the future.
With below 20F temperatures in the morning and keeping the thermostat in the bathroom at about 55, it is a little cool. But, I'm going keep trying...maybe
Wednesday, January 6, 2015 1934 Aristocrat OC Wilkinson Sword #1 Erskine 3106 TGN Finest Acqua Di Parma Fine American Blend Today’s classic shave was three passes and BBS, closeness A and irritation A. The Aristocrat shaves similar to the NEW, perhaps a tad more aggressive. My Dad was 14 when this razor came out 82 years ago. Amazing! It has outstanding weight and a great grip. ADP lathers slick and creamy with nice subtle scent. I had a Fine ending today, with American Blend. Have an excellent Wednesday everyone!
January 6, day 5 The second day with the Pils produced an even better shave than the first. Loaded with a Super Iridium blade and careful attention to blade angle I managed a perfectly acceptable 2 pass DFS. If I was to have made another atg pass below my jaw line I could pulled off a BBS. I dont think I could get irritation from this razor if I tried. Its extremely mild but efficient if the angle is maintained. I will continue using the Pils with different blades until I find the perfect match.
That's pretty chilly in your bathroom! That would certainly be bracing. I'm probably going to wait more for the Spring and Summer before trying cold water shaves again.
